Jewish-Arab Relations under
Ottoman Rule
IAFS/JWST 3650
Istanbul
Announcements
• Map/plagiarism quiz retake on Thu
– Use tally mark to indicate whether or not
you’ll take quiz
Announcements
• IAFS summer seminar in Bordeaux
Outline
•
•
•
•
Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Decline
ID and Society in Holy Land
Holy Land Significance
The Ottoman Empire
• Anatolian roots
• 1453: capture of Constantinople
The Ottoman Empire
• 16th c expansion
• Diverse population
• Millet system based on dhimmi structure
The Ottoman Empire
• 16th c/17th c roots of decline
• Internal problems
• European economic competition
Jews in 19th c Holy Land
• Early 19th c: Greater Syria’s Jewish population
~25,000
– Roughly half in what became Palestine
• Mostly in cities
• Most Sephardim, some Ashkenazim
Ottoman Decline (19th c)
• Turmoil in Holy Land
– 1831-1840: Egyptian occupation under
Ibrahim
– Ibrahim gave Jews and Christians equality
with Muslims
Ottoman Decline (19th c)
• Empire-wide instability
• 1839: Hatti Sharif of Gulhane
• 1856: Hatti Humayun
Identity and Society in the Holy Land
• Sanjaks (districts) within vilayets (provinces)
• Notables: provided security (in theory),
collected taxes
• Jerusalem notables: derived power from
religious offices
Identity and Society in the Holy Land
• Identity
– Peasants: loyalty to land, village
– Educated Arabs: sense of living in area
called Palestine, within greater Syria
Quickthink
• 2-3 min small group discussion
• Review, critical analysis
• What’s the significance of the fact that in mid19th c we don’t yet see clear Arab identity, let
alone specifically Palestinian nationality?
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• Early 19th c Holy Land poor and neglected
• 1850s: Christian pilgrimage tours
• Pilgrims and tourists meant revenue,
European attention
Holy Land’s
Increasing
Status (19th c)
• Shifting
geopolitics
• Egyptian
autonomy
• British/French
rivalry re Suez
isthmus
Lizars, Daniel. Egypt [map]. [1831?].
1:2,100,000. “David Rumsey Map Collection.”
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• Palestine (to be) increasingly important to
Ottomans
• Jerusalem made directly responsible to
Constantinople
• Increased stability
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• Economic and social improvements for Jews
• Increased Jewish immigration
• Jerusalem’s Jewish population:
– 1839: ~5000
– 1850s: ~10,000
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• British interest:
– Humanitarian
– Political: Jewish support for British aims in
exchange for British protection
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• New patterns of land ownership
– Land title bought by small number of people
– Peasants continued working land
– Groundwork for later Zionist purchases
Holy Land’s Increasing Status (19th c)
• Rise in agricultural and industrial production
– Wheat, cotton, citrus, soap
– Preceded Zionist colonization
Conclusions
• Ottoman control of greater Syria brought
stability, based on dhimmi system
• 19th c: Greater Jewish and Christian equality
unsettled this system
• Shifting geopolitics of mid/late-19th c
contributed to rise in status of Holy Land